The D-backs went 5-2 and outscored their opponents 40-19 but failed to gain any ground in the division race. We've been stuck in second place since June 25th. Guhhhh. Anyway, onward to this week's Trends...
And here we go:
| Rotation | Trend | Notes |
| Ian Kennedy |  |
He's just doin' his thang. How does 13 innings pitched, 8 hits allowed, 2 earned runs, and a 14:3 K:BB rate sound? Awesome? Yeah, let's move on... |
| Daniel Hudson |  |
Back-to-back starts that did not qualify for a QS. Hudson went 6 1/3 innings against Colorado, allowing five runs off of ten hits, and followed up that performance by allowing four runs and seven hits in a six inning effort against San Diego. He posted a pretty 13:3 K:BB rate but his ERA took a hit and jumped from 3.56 to 3.81. |
| Joe Saunders | |
The guy everyone hates to love or loves to hate... All he did this time was peg his first complete game of the season without even topping 100 pitches. He allowed six hits and a homer while striking out four and walking one in his impressive outing. |
|
Barry Enright ^^^ |
|
Not a pretty outing by Barry, allowing eight hits and five earned runs after only 5 1/3 innings. His 4:4 K:BB rate is the unflattering part. If you take those walks out, most of those runs don't score. Barry might be playing himself out of a September call-up if he doesn't improve. |
|
Josh Collmenter |
|
That whole "league will catch up to him" worry is slowly being extinguished. I'm still tempering my optimism, but for now Josh has started 13 games and has a ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP under 1.00. He recently went seven innings against the Rockies, allowing six hits and only three earned runs en route to his sixth win of the season. You know what the best part is? He hasn't allowed a walk in his last 19 innings. |
| Micah Owings |
|
Despite an uninspiring 2:3 K:BB rate, Micah threw five scoreless innings against Colorado, giving up just two hits while posting an insanely good 10:4 GO:FO rate. He also drove in his first RBI of the year. |
| Bullpen | ||
| J.J. Putz |
|
28 days later... tee hee... and J.J. picked up right where he left off with his 22nd save of the season. It's definitely refreshing to have dependable bullpen help back on the roster. |
| David Hernandez |
|
Hernandez sightings were rare but he continued his dominance when he was called upon. DH threw two more scoreless innings allowing just a hit and a walk. In his last 9.1 innings he's allowed just one hit while posting a sparkling 10:2 K:BB rate. That's 32 batters and two inherited runners that never scored. |
| Juan Gutierrez |
 |
15-Day DL retroactive to May 25 due to right shoulder inflammation. An MRI found rotator cuff irritation but no tears. Gutierrez had a "setback" during his rehab and has been shutdown indefinitely. |
| Sam Demel |
|
Demel's WHIP has skyrocketed to a gross 1.52 and he's showing a lot of control issues, walking three in only 1 2/3 innings. |
| Ryan Cook *** |
 |
Cook got his first taste of Reno by allowing a pair of unearned runs and giving up two walks and a hit in his first game. He returned to action in today's game and went 1 2/3 innings giving up one hit and a walk while striking out two. |
| Bryan Shaw --- |
|
It took Shaw 20 pitches and allowing a home run, but he managed to keep a D-backs lead intact after 7th inning appearance against the Padres. He followed up the next day by going 1 1/3 scoreless and hit-less innings with three strikeouts. |
| Joe Paterson | |
Typical Joe-paw line: 1.2 innings pitched with two strike outs and zero walks, hits, and runs. He did give up an inherited run, though. |
|
Esmerling Vasquez *** |
|
Four innings from Esmerling with one run allowed, two walks, and three hits. Despite the three strikeouts, which are nice, it's going to take a lot from him to be a Diamondback again before the end of the season. |
| Zach Duke |
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Duke threw four scoreless innings of relief against Colorado, giving up just three hits while getting an 8:5 GO:AO rate. Then again, he had zero strikeouts. |
| Alberto Castillo |
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Threw 1 1/3 innings, mostly in "garbage time" during blowouts, allowing a hit and a walk. Sometimes I wonder how much he's paying Kevin Towers to not be DFA'd. |
| Starters |
||
| Miguel Montero |
|
Montero has been sound defensively lately and has made a good turnaround from earlier in the season. Offensively, he merely hit 10-26, mostly in the cleanup spot, with a pair of home runs and seven RBIs. |
| Juan Miranda *** |
|
Miranda had an OPS of .888 going into today's game and he's already got himself three home runs in just 33 at-bats. |
| Brandon Allen |
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Meh. 2-17 with a home run. You don't need a manual to figure this one out. |
| Kelly Johnson |
|
Johnson was rolling along with a .976 OPS and a .286 BA in his last four games before going 0-4 with three strikeouts in today's game. Still, save for his bad day today and he's been slowly improving in just about every category. |
| Stephen Drew |
|
Scootering around his home right about now. |
| Ryan Roberts |
|
Another easy one that doesn't need much explaining: Roberts went 2-20 while going 0-1 in stolen base attempts. Mmmooovvviinngg oonnn... |
| Gerardo Parra |
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Parra is being platooned now more than ever and only played in four games as a result. He went 5-12 and had a nice 3:2 BB:K rate. |
| Chris Young | |
Just. Not. Getting. It. Done... Young hit a measly 3-24 with just two RBIs. He scored a few runs and stole a pair of bases though which is exactly why he needs to get on base more. |
| Justin Upton |
|
Yeah, if you were starting to wonder how we scored all those runs that I mentioned at the beginning of the column than look no further. Upton had on OPS over 2.000, an OBP just shy of .600, and a batting average above .550. He hit five home runs, tallied 14 RBIs, had a shiny 4:4 BB:K rate, and was a perfect 2-0 when stealing. Hellz yes. |
| Willie Bloomquist |
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Here's your fun fact of the day: Willie has had two consecutive hit streaks ruined by going hit-less in his last two pinch hit attempts. From July 2-18, Willie had an eight-game hit streak snapped and today Willie had a seven-game hit streak broken. Hypothetically, if Willie had started in those two games and recorded a hit (which is very likely given how well he's been at the plate) Willie would currently be working a 17-game hit streak dating back to July 2. Anyway, Willie has been solid in the absence of Drew, posting a slash line of .370/.393/.481 with a double and a triple. Sadly, he continues to smear his value with outs on the base paths. |
| Bench |
||
| Collin Cowgill |
|
Still looking for that first major league hit after 8 at-bats... |
| Cody Ransom |
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Ransom might want to start some kind of business with Sean Burroughs because they're likely heading in the same direction soon if they can't change their ways. |
| Sean Burroughs +++ |
|
There's a reason why he cleared waivers earlier in the season and not a single team wanted to take a flier on him. Burroughs hasn't had a hit in his last 16 at-bats and hit into a game-ending double play today. |
| Xavier Nady |
|
Nady had the game-winning home run in a game against the Padres and finished the week hitting 6-11. |
| Geoff Blum |
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15-Day DL retroactive to July 25 due to a fractured right pinkie. |
| Henry Blanco |
|
Who? |
*** Optioned to Triple-A
+++ Outrighted to Triple-A and subsequently recalled
--- Recalled for the second time from Triple-A
^^^ Optioned to Triple-A, subsequently recalled, and optioned to Triple-A again